Guardian Druid Netherlight Crucible Recommendations

This section of the Guardian Druid Guide explains the best relic trait choices for the Netherlight Crucible, a new system of artifact weapon progression added in Patch 7.3 Legion. This guide is written by Arielle.

Netherlight Crucible Overview

The Netherlight Crucible is a new feature in patch 7.3 that allows you to empower your relics with additional traits. It can turn even the weakest relics into viable options depending on how lucky you are with its randomly-rolled traits. Netherlight Crucible traits are randomly selected when a relic is first put into the Crucible, so one 狂暴余震 may have completely different traits than another 狂暴余震! You should always preview a relic's potential traits before you use it or throw it away unless it is a significant item level downgrade. Previewing a relic's traits will bind it to your character, so if you are thinking of trading it to a party member, don't preview and lock it to yourself.

The Netherlight Crucible grants a simple 3-tier, branching tree of traits to each of your 3 equipped relics. You must choose one trait from each tier. The first tier is always a 5 item level increase to your weapon. The second tier is a choice between a light or shadow trait. The third tier is a choice between one of three weapon traits, and your available options are affected by which direction you went in the second tier (left vs. right). Your ability to choose traits for your relics is gated by your weapon's Artifact Level.

You must be at Artifact Level 75 to completely customize your weapon at the Netherlight Crucible. At current Artifact Knowledge values, this is expected to take several months. Don't worry, it's something to work toward!

Here is a breakdown of Artifact Level values and trait availability:At 60, you unlock the second tier of your first relic. At 63, you unlock the second tier of your second relic. At 66, you unlock the second tier of your third relic. At 69, you unlock the third tier of your first relic. At 72, you unlock the third tier of your second relic. At 75, you unlock the third tier of your third relic. Job's done!

As always the trait choices for tanks become a little bit muddied since no two people will find the same value in the same set of traits. Playing at the highest level of progression is vastly different than someone who is a Heroic raider, who is vastly different again from someone who just does quest or 5 person content. The best I can really do is point out which light/shadow traits are strong either offensively or defensively. Obviously we still know that 锯齿利爪 is worth 50+ item levels for DPS (depending on usage of 丝瓜裹腕), and 邪恶撕咬 is around 30 or so.

Tier 2 Traits

Because your choice in Tier 2 affects which traits you can reach in Tier 3, you need to balance both the Tier 2 and Tier 3 bonuses when you make your Tier 2 choice. With the opening of 安托鲁斯，燃烧王座, it is now possible to obtain 大军之印, which increases the potency of your Tier 2 Crucible traits by 50%. It might be a really strong legendary if you are lucky with Netherlight Crucible rolls!

Since both 圣光庇护 and 圣光灌注 can trigger from 精通：自然守护者 and 自然之怒 the defensive procs will be pretty consistent, which makes these traits top-tier for Guardians. Obviously both are slightly weaker than 折射护盾 defensively, in exchange for a sizable offensive upside. 光速 is a very strong offensive trait, with a small defensive upside. As far as I can tell the healing procs will not trigger from overhealing, which generally means you'll only get them when they're useful and you have a decent chance to do so.Void Traits

Most of the shadow traits are generally only eliciit a shrug for Guardians. The exception is 恃强凌弱 which has the potential to be very strong for Guardians now that is affected by both Haste and Crit, and provides another trigger for 星河守护者. However as with the light traits, these will definitely require playtesting once they are available.

Tier 3 Traits

Your third row of trait selections will just follow the same selection process as if you were choosing a brand new relic. 锯齿利爪 and 邪恶撕咬 are your DPS options, with 耀眼月光 being the best defensive option. All of the other traits have generally the same defensive value, so you can pick whatever suits you best.

More Crucible Guides

Here are links to all Netherlight Crucible recommendations on Wowhead, covering all specializations: